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Booksale is a bookstore and office supply store chain based in the Philippines.

History
Founded by Emmanuel Sison, a Filipino businessman and a writer which hails from Pangasinan, Philippines. Before becoming a successful businessman, Sison struggled from polio and poverty. Sison, however, did not let these get the best of him. Instead of drowning in self-pity, Sison used his impairment as a motivating tool to be an achiever. He worked hard to achieve his goals. To finish college, Sison, for four years, worked as an assistant to the secretary of the Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters (Philets) under the UST Rector’s scholarship, for four years, despite his impairment. He earned a degree in Literature from Philets.

Sison also earned extra bucks by writing term papers for students. In the process, he also honed his writing skills, which he was already harnessing as an editor of Philets student publication Blue Quill and a news writer for the Varsitarian. The drive to realize his dreams pushed him to enter advertising and marketing. He taught marketing for a few years at the Graduate School of Business in De La Salle University and in UST from 1970-1982. In 1997, Sison was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Having experienced polio, he already knew how to deal with the pains of cancer, which he considered just another challenge written in his life.

''“My other arm is shorter than the other, it’s because of polio. Other people would easily give up but I did not let polio stop me from doing what I want,” he said. “Now I am faced with prostate cancer, but the way I see it, cancer has helped me become stronger.”, Sison said on his interview with Rose May Y. Cabacang of The Varsitarian'', the official publication school organ of his alma mater, University of Sto. Tomas. Sison declined chemotherapy. Rather, he chose alternative medicine treatment, taking 24 vitamins and medicines every day. He is also the writer and author of the book "Tales from the Land of Salt", where a two-part compilation of folk tales and legends from his home province, Pangasinan.

The Birth of Booksale


Sison founded Visual Mix Inc. which is the company name of Booksale. While walking along the busy streets of Recto and Avenida, which are filled with sidewalk book vendors, Sison got the idea of selling second-hand books at low prices. He imports his books with the help of his daughters from the United States and sells them in Booksale at cheaper prices for as low as five pesos. Retailers can already buy New York Times bestsellers and even rare fiction and non-fiction titles from Booksale. Quality second-hand books, including hard and paper-bound book novels, comics, magazines, and text books are sold at very affordable prices. He set up the first outlet of Booksale at Cinema Square in Makati in 1980 with a capital of P20,000. Rare books, comics, romance novels, magazines, both old and new were sold in the store with a dreamy and bookish ambiance that effortlessly grabbed the attention of book lovers.

Unlike other bookstores, Booksale offers customers the reading environment they want. With no one bothering you, and giving you all the time you need to choose a book at very affordable prices.

Recently, Booksale (Visual Mix Inc.) has a total number of 91 stores nationwide.